Air compressor having chambered piston head

ABSTRACT

An air compressor assembly includes a cylinder housing, an outlet receptacle disposed on the cylinder housing, and a partition having an air passage formed between the cylinder housing and the outlet receptacle, a piston slidably received in the cylinder housing and having a piston rod extended from a piston head for moving relative to the cylinder housing to generate a pressurized air, the piston head includes an upper surface, and includes a cavity formed in the piston head and defined by a bottom surface and an inner peripheral surface and opened upwardly through the upper surface of the piston head and faced and directed toward the partition of the cylinder housing for partially receiving the pressurized air.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an air compressor assembly, and more particularly to an air compressor assembly including a piston having a chamber or compartment or cavity formed in the piston head for partially receiving the pressurized air and for buffering purposes and for allowing the piston head to effectively compress or pump the air in the pumping movement or stroke and/or for suitably increasing the compressing or pumping effect or operation to the air.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Typical air compressors comprise a cylinder housing attached or secured to a base and having a piston slidably disposed therein, and a motor secured to the base and coupled to the piston of the cylinder housing for actuating or driving the piston of the cylinder housing in a reciprocating action, in order to generate a pressurized air of a greater air pressure and a decreased flowing quantity and for supplying the pressurized air to inflate various air facilities, such as tires, air beds, air cushions, hovercrafts, etc.

The cylinder housing normally includes an outlet receptacle having a compartment formed therein and having one or more outlet ports communicative with the compartment of the outlet receptacle for selectively or changeably attaching and securing or coupling various parts or elements or attachments or facilities, such as the pressure gauges, the air nozzles, the relief valves, the safety valves or the like.

The applicant has developed various kinds of typical air compressors, including at least U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,725 to Chou, U.S. Pat. No. 6,514,058 to Chou, U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,928 to Chou, U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,162 to Chou, U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,642 to Chou, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,462,018 to Chou each of which also comprise a piston slidably disposed within a cylinder housing, a spring valve having one end secured to the piston and having the other end for selectively blocking an air aperture of the piston, in order to control the air to flow through the piston, and a motor secured to the base and coupled to the piston of the cylinder housing for actuating or driving or forcing the piston of the cylinder housing to move in the reciprocating action relative to the cylinder housing, and an outlet receptacle extended or formed on top of the cylinder housing and having a compartment formed therein for receiving the pressurized air from the cylinder housing and having one or more outlet ports communicative with the compartment of the outlet receptacle for selectively or changeably attaching and securing or coupling various parts or elements or attachments or facilities, such as the pressure gauges, the air nozzles, the relief valves, the safety valves or the like.

The piston head of the piston normally includes a solid structure having a planar driving or forcing or actuating surface for forcing or pushing or compressing or pumping the air in the pumping movement or stroke in order to generate the pressurized air.

However, the solid structure of the piston has no other space or cavity or chamber or compartment formed in the piston head for partially receiving the pressurized air such that the piston has no buffering structure or mechanism formed or provided therein such that the piston may not be effectively moved relative to the cylinder housing and may not be effectively operated to compress or pump the air in the pumping movement or stroke and such that the piston may have a good chance to generate a pressurized air having an over-pressurized condition.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional structures for the air compressors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an air compressor assembly including a piston having a chamber or compartment or cavity formed in the piston head for partially receiving the pressurized air and for buffering purposes and for allowing the piston head to effectively compress or pump the air in the pumping movement or stroke and/or for suitably increasing the compressing or pumping effect or operation to the air.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided an air compressor assembly comprising a cylinder housing including a chamber formed therein and defined by an inner peripheral surface, an outlet receptacle provided on the cylinder housing and including a compartment formed therein, and including a partition provided between the cylinder housing and the outlet receptacle, and including an air passage formed in the partition and communicative with the chamber of the cylinder housing for receiving a pressurized air from the chamber of the cylinder housing, and communicative with the compartment of the outlet receptacle, and including a valve seat formed between the cylinder housing and the outlet receptacle, a piston slidably received in the chamber of the cylinder housing and having a piston rod extended from a piston head, a motor coupled to the piston rod for moving the piston relative to the cylinder housing in a reciprocating action in order to generate a pressurized air and for allowing the pressurized air to be supplied from the chamber of the cylinder housing to the compartment of the outlet receptacle, and a spring-biased check valve disposed in the outlet receptacle and engaged with the valve seat and the partition for selectively blocking the air passage of the partition and for guiding the pressurized air to flow from the chamber of the cylinder housing into the compartment of the outlet receptacle, and to prevent the pressurized air from flowing backwardly from the compartment of the outlet receptacle into the chamber of the cylinder housing, the piston head includes an upper surface and a cavity formed in the piston head and defined by a bottom surface and an inner peripheral surface and opened upwardly through the upper surface of the piston head and faced and directed toward the partition of the cylinder housing for partially receiving the pressurized air and for buffering purposes and for slightly reducing the pressure of the pressurized air and for preventing the pressurized air supplied out through to the air facilities from being over-pressurized, and for allowing the piston head to effectively compress or pump the air in the pumping movement or stroke and/or for suitably increasing the compressing or pumping effect or operation to the air, and includes a groove formed in the piston head and communicating with the cavity of the piston head for allowing an air to selectively flow from an outer environment into the cavity of the piston head, and a spring blade attached or secured to the piston head for selectively blocking the groove of the piston head and for preventing the air from flowing outwardly from the cavity of the piston head through the groove of the piston head when the piston is moved rearwardly or away from the partition.

The piston head includes a peripheral recess or depression or slot formed in an outer peripheral portion of the piston head for receiving and engaging with a gasket which is engageable with the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder housing for selectively making an air tight seal between the piston head and the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder housing when the piston head is not tilted or inclined relative to the cylinder housing and when the piston head is moved toward the partition in order to generate the pressurized air.

The piston head includes a catch formed or provided thereon, such as provided on the bottom surface of the piston head and attached or mounted or secured to or engaged with the spring blade for attaching and mounting or securing or anchoring or retaining the spring blade to the bottom surface of the piston head and for selectively blocking the groove of the piston head and for forming a check valve.

Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air compressor assembly in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side plan schematic view of the air compressor assembly;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the air compressor assembly, taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is another cross sectional view similar to FIG. 3, illustrating the operation of the air compressor assembly;

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view illustrating some of the parts or elements of the air compressor assembly;

FIG. 6 is a partial cross sectional view taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a partial exploded view of a piston of the air compressor assembly;

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view illustrating the piston of the air compressor assembly;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial cross sectional view illustrating the operation of the relief valve device for the air compressor assembly;

FIG. 10 is another cross sectional view similar to FIGS. 3 and 4, illustrating the other arrangement of the air compressor assembly;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are other cross sectional views similar to FIGS. 3-4 and 10, illustrating the further arrangement of the air compressor assembly;

FIG. 13 is a further partial exploded view illustrating the piston of the air compressor assembly as shown in FIGS. 11-12; and

FIG. 14 is a further partial perspective view illustrating the piston of the air compressor assembly as shown in FIGS. 11-13, in which a portion of the piston have been cut off for showing the inner structure of the piston of the air compressor assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1-4, an air compressor assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises an outer receptacle or housing or container 90 including a supporting lower or bottom container member 91 and an upper covering member 92 openably attached or mounted or secured or coupled or anchored or retained or position together to form and to provide a chamber or compartment or space 93 in the container 90 for receiving or accommodating an air compressor device 1. As shown in FIGS. 3-5, the air compressor device 1 includes a supporting base 10 including a supporting plate 11 and a cylinder housing 20 provided on or extended from the supporting plate 11 and preferably, but not necessarily formed integral with the supporting plate 11.

For example, the supporting plate 11 and the cylinder housing 20 may be formed integral with each other, as shown in FIG. 5, with the molding or mold-injection processes, for example, or alternatively, the cylinder housing 20 may include one or more projections (not shown) extended therefrom and engaged with corresponding hubs or tubular members (not shown) of the supporting plate 11 for detachably attaching or mounting or securing the cylinder housing 20 to the supporting plate 11. The cylinder housing 20 includes a chamber 21 formed therein and formed or defined by an inner peripheral surface 29 for slidably receiving or engaging with a piston 3 therein, the piston 3 includes an extension or piston rod 31 extended from a piston head 30 and is slidable in a reciprocating action in the chamber 21 of the cylinder housing 20 for generating a pressurized air.

A gear 12 is rotatably attached to the lower portion of the supporting plate 11 with one or more bearings (not shown) and a shaft 13, and an eccentric member 14 is attached or secured to the gear 12 with such as fasteners (not shown) or with the molding or mold-injection processes and may thus be rotated in concert with the gear 12, and includes a crank or an eccentric pin 15 extended therefrom and coupled to a hole 32 in a free end portion of the piston rod 31 of the piston 3 (FIGS. 7-8, 13-14) in order to actuate or to move the piston 3 relative to the cylinder housing 20 in reciprocating actions. A motor 16 (FIGS. 5-6) may be attached or secured to the upper portion of the supporting plate 11 with such as fasteners (not shown), and includes a spindle 17 (FIGS. 3, 6) extended through the supporting plate 11, and includes a pinion 18 secured to the spindle 17 thereof.

As also shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the pinion 18 of the motor 16 is engaged with the gear 12 for allowing the gear 12 to be pivoted or rotated or driven by the motor 16 with the pinion 18, and thus for allowing the piston 3 to be actuated to move relative to the cylinder housing 20 in reciprocating actions by the eccentric member 14 and the eccentric pin 15. A fan device 19 (FIG. 5) may further be provided and coupled to the motor 16 for being rotated or driven by the motor 16 to generate a circulating or ventilating air. The cylinder housing 20 further includes an outlet tube or barrel or receptacle 40 extended upwardly or outwardly from the top thereof, and having a compartment 41 formed therein (FIGS. 3-4) and communicative with the chamber 21 of the cylinder housing 20, for receiving the pressurized air from the chamber 21 of the cylinder housing 20.

For example, the cylinder housing 20 includes an upper panel or wall or partition 22 disposed or formed or provided between the cylinder housing 20 and the outlet receptacle 40 and includes an air pathway or conduit or passage 23 formed in the partition 22 for allowing the pressurized air to be supplied from the chamber 21 of the cylinder housing 20 to the compartment 41 of the outlet receptacle 40, and includes a valve seat 24 formed or provided between the cylinder housing 20 and the outlet receptacle 40, such as formed or provided in the partition 22 and between the air passage 23 of the partition 22 and the compartment 41 of the outlet receptacle 40. The outlet receptacle 40 further includes one or more ducts 42, 43, 44 (FIGS. 5-6, 9) extended outwardly therefrom and communicative with the compartment 41 of the outlet receptacle 40, for receiving the pressurized air from the compartment 41 of the outlet receptacle 40.

The ducts 42, 43, 44 may be coupled to various kinds of facilities that require pressurized air supplied thereto. For example, a nozzle (not shown) may be provided and attached to one of the ducts 42 with a hose 45 (FIGS. 5, 9) for allowing the pressurized air to be supplied from the chamber 21 of the cylinder housing 20 and the compartment 41 of the outlet receptacle 40 to various pneumatic facilities that require pressurized air supplied thereto, with the nozzle. The hose 45 may be received or engaged or contained in the space 93 of the container 90 which includes a cap or cover 94 attached or mounted or secured to the container 90 (FIG. 2) for enclosing the space 93 of the container 90 and for retaining or positioning or confining the hose 45 within the space 93 of the container 90. The container 90 includes a switch 95 formed or provided therein (FIG. 1) for actuating or operating the air compressor device 1.

A pressure gauge 46 may further be provided and attached to the other duct 44 (FIGS. 5-6, 9) for detecting and showing the air pressure within the cylinder housing 20 and/or the outlet receptacle 40, and may be provided and exposed outwardly through the container 90 (FIG. 1) for being viewed and read by the users. A spring-biased check valve 47 (FIGS. 3, 4) is disposed in the outlet receptacle 40 or on top of the partition 22 of the cylinder housing 20, and engaged with the partition 22 or the valve seat 24 that is formed or provided between the outlet receptacle 40 and the cylinder housing 20 for selectively blocking or enclosing or sealing the air passage 23 of the partition 22, and the spring-biased check valve 47 may be used to limit and to guide the pressurized air to flow only from the chamber 21 of the cylinder housing 20 into the compartment 41 of the outlet receptacle 40, and to prevent the pressurized air from flowing backwardly from the compartment 41 of the outlet receptacle 40 into the chamber 21 of the cylinder housing 20.

A relief valve or safety valve 48 or the like may be provided and attached to the other duct 49 of the outlet receptacle 40 for relieving the pressurized air when the air pressure within the cylinder housing 20 and the outlet receptacle 40 is over a predetermined value. A further safety valve or relief valve 5 (FIGS. 3-5 and 9) may be provided and attached to another duct 43 for relieving the pressurized air when the air pressure within the cylinder housing 20 and/or the outlet receptacle 40 is over a predetermined pressure, and thus for preventing the cylinder housing 20 and/or the outlet receptacle 40 from being over-pressurized and damaged. For example, the relief valve 5 includes a soft or resilient valve piece 50 disposed or engaged in the duct 43 for selectively blocking or enclosing or sealing or controlling the air passage between the duct 43 and the outlet receptacle 40.

The relief valve 5 further includes a screw or bolt or fastener 51 threaded or engaged with the duct 43 for selectively enclosing or sealing or locking the duct 43 and for solidly and stably anchoring or retaining or positioning the valve piece 50 in the duct 43 and for preventing the valve piece 50 from being disengaged or separated from the duct 43 inadvertently. The fastener 51 includes an orifice or aperture or bore or pathway 52 formed therein for slidably receiving or engaging with a stem or rod or extension or shank 54 of an actuating member or button or knob 53, in which the shank 54 of the actuating knob 53 is contactable or engageable with the valve piece 50 for selectively compressing or depressing or operating or actuating or forcing the valve piece 50 to selectively relieve the pressurized air when the air pressure within the cylinder housing 20 and the outlet receptacle 40 is over a predetermined value, by compressing or operating or actuating or depressing the actuating knob 53.

It is to be noted that the provision or the extension of the ducts 42, 43, 44 from the outlet receptacle 40 allows the relief valve 5 and the pressure gauge 46 and the nozzle to be easily and readily attached to or coupled to the outlet receptacle 40 with the ducts 42, 43, 44, without additional or specialized coupling members or tools. One or more lids (not shown) may further be provided and attached or secured to either of the ducts 42, 43, 44 with such as a threading engagement, for selectively enclosing or blocking the ducts 42, 43, 44, when the ducts 42, 43, 44 are not required to be used, or when the relief valve 5 and the pressure gauge 46 and the nozzle are not attached or secured to the ducts 42, 43, 44. The above-described structure or configuration for the air compressor assembly is typical and is not related to the present invention and will not be described in further details.

In operation, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the piston 3 may be actuated or moved relative to the cylinder housing 20 in the reciprocating actions by the motor 16 with the pinion 18, the gear 12, the eccentric member 14 and the eccentric pin 15, in order to generate a pressurized air, and to allow the pressurized air to flow into the outlet receptacle 40, and then to flow out through either or all of the ducts 42, 43, 44, and thus to allow the air pressure within the cylinder housing 20 and/or the outlet receptacle 40 to be detected and shown by the pressure gauge 46, and to allow the pressurized air to be supplied into the facilities that require pressurized air supplied thereto, with the nozzle, and/or to allow the pressurized air to be relieved via the relief valve 5 when the cylinder housing 20 and/or the outlet receptacle 40 is over-pressurized.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the piston 3 includes a peripheral recess or depression or slot 33 formed in the outer peripheral portion 34 of the piston head 30 for receiving or engaging with a sealing ring or gasket 35 which is contacted or engageable with the inner peripheral surface 29 of the cylinder housing 20 for making an air tight seal between the piston head 30 and the inner peripheral surface 29 of the cylinder housing 20 and for generating the pressurized air when the piston head 30 and the piston rod 31 are moved toward the partition 22 of the cylinder housing 20, the piston head 30 of the piston 3 includes an upper or free end portion or surface 36, and includes a chamber or compartment or space or cavity 37 formed in the piston head 30 and formed or defined by a base or bottom surface 38 and an inner peripheral surface 39, and opened upwardly through the upper end surface 36 of the piston head 30 and located or faced or directed toward the partition 22 of the cylinder housing 20.

The piston 3 further includes a groove 60 formed in the piston head 30 and formed through the bottom surface 38 of the piston head 30 and communicating with the cavity 37 of the piston head 30 for allowing the air to selectively flow from the outer environment through the groove 60 and into the cavity 37 of the piston head 30, and a spring blade 61 is further provided and attached to the bottom surface 38 of the piston head 30 and attached or mounted or secured to the bottom surface 38 of the piston head 30 with fasteners or a latch or catch 62 or the like for selectively blocking the groove 60 of the piston head 30, and for forming or defining a check valve 61 and for preventing the pressurized air from flowing backwardly and outwardly from the cavity 37 of the piston head 30 through the groove 60 of the piston head 30.

In operation, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the piston 3 is actuated to move relative to the cylinder housing 20 in the reciprocating actions in order to generate the pressurized air, the cavity 37 in the piston head 30 may be used to receive or accommodate some of the pressurized air when the piston head 30 is moved toward the partition 22, and may thus be used for buffering purposes and for slightly reducing the pressure of the pressurized air and for preventing the pressurized air supplied out through the nozzle and to the air facilities from being over-pressurized. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10, the piston rod 310 of the piston 3 may include a length relatively shorter than that shown in FIGS. 3-8, and the piston head 30 will be slightly spaced or separated from the partition 22 when the piston head 30 is moved toward the partition 22 at the top dead position for forming a buffering chamber B between the piston head 30 and the partition 22.

Further alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 11-14, the piston head 301 may include a cavity 371 formed therein and opened upwardly through the upper surface 36 of the piston head 301 and located or faced or directed toward the partition 22 of the cylinder housing 20 for receiving or accommodating some of the pressurized air and for buffering purposes, and further includes a groove 601 formed in the piston head 301 and formed through the upper end surface 36 of the piston head 301 and offset and spaced or separated from the cavity 37 of the piston head 301 for allowing the air to selectively flow from the outer environment through the groove 601 and into the chamber 21 of the cylinder housing 20 when the piston head 301 is moved away from the partition 22, and a spring blade 61 is further provided and attached to the upper surface 36 of the piston head 301 and attached or mounted or secured to the piston head 301 with solders or adhesives or fasteners or a latch or catch 62 or the like for selectively blocking the groove 601 of the piston head 301, and for forming or defining a check valve 61 and for preventing the pressurized air from flowing backwardly and outwardly from the chamber 21 of the cylinder housing 20 through the groove 601 of the piston head 301.

Accordingly, the air compressor assembly in accordance with the present invention includes a piston having a chamber or compartment or cavity formed in the piston head for partially receiving the pressurized air and for buffering purposes and for allowing the piston head to effectively compress or pump the air in the pumping movement or stroke and/or for suitably increasing the compressing or pumping effect or operation to the air.

Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 

I claim:
 1. An air compressor assembly comprising: a cylinder housing including a chamber formed therein and defined by an inner peripheral surface and a partition, and including an air passage formed in said partition and communicative with said chamber of said cylinder housing for receiving a pressurized air from said chamber of said cylinder housing, a piston slidably received in said chamber of said cylinder housing and having a piston rod extended from a piston head, and a motor coupled to said piston rod for moving said piston relative to said cylinder housing in a reciprocating action in order to generate a pressurized air, wherein: said piston head includes an upper surface, a cavity formed in said piston head and defined by a bottom surface and an inner peripheral surface and opened upwardly through said upper surface of said piston head and faced and directed toward said partition of said cylinder housing for partially receiving the pressurized air, and includes a groove formed in said piston head and communicating with said cavity of said piston head for allowing an air to selectively flow from an outer environment into said cavity of said piston head.
 2. The air compressor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said piston head includes a peripheral slot formed in an outer peripheral portion of said piston head for receiving and engaging with a gasket which is engageable with said inner peripheral surface of said cylinder housing for selectively making an air tight seal between said piston head and said inner peripheral surface of said cylinder housing.
 3. The air compressor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said piston head includes a catch provided on said bottom surface of said piston head and attached to said spring blade for attaching and mounting said spring blade to said bottom surface of said piston head and for selectively blocking said groove of said piston head and for forming a check valve.
 4. The air compressor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cylinder housing includes an outlet receptacle provided on said cylinder housing and having a compartment formed in said outlet receptacle, and a spring-biased check valve disposed in said outlet receptacle and engaged with said partition for selectively blocking said air passage of said partition and for guiding the pressurized air to flow from said chamber of said cylinder housing into said compartment of said outlet receptacle, and to prevent the pressurized air from flowing backwardly from said compartment of said outlet receptacle into said chamber of said cylinder housing.
 5. The air compressor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said piston includes a spring blade attached to said piston head for selectively blocking said groove of said piston head and for preventing the air from flowing backwardly and outwardly from said cavity of said piston head through said groove of said piston head.
 6. The air compressor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said piston head is spaced from said partition when said piston head is moved toward said partition at a top dead position for forming a buffering chamber B between said piston head and said partition. 